A branch of Pratello’s company is dedicated to bring to all our clients’ table the best of our raw materials and processed products of high quality. That’s where La Bottega Contadina takes place; cultivating vegetables, collecting ancient fruits, breeding of autoctone animal races. All this, aiming to offer our unique and special products.
Oil and Olives
The Olive Groves are extended on an 8 hectare area. The cultivation technique follows Pratelllo’s protocol, therefore excluding the usage of pests, infestants and chemical menures, and simply concentrating on the maintenance of the organic substance concentration in the soil, through the amount of adjusting agents from natural origins. Because of this particular reason, most of our olive trees are fenced to encourage breeding and pasture of chickens, italian ducks, goose, guinea fowl and laying hens. The harvest starts at the beginning of October by manual stripping or sometimes by using facilitators. The collected olives in the nets are defoliated and at last they reach the crusher to be subsequently pressed in the following 24 hours.
Vegetable Garden
There has always been a garden at Pratello, in the last few years it has been developed and amplified, by adding cunstructed areas for specific vegetable cultivations. Everything is cultivated based on the Pratello Idea: working manually, composting manure and eliminating weeds with a simple shovel. Following the moments of the seasons, every single product is being promoted in the restaurant's menù, to satisfy even the most refined palates.
Orchards
The Pratello Idea has made the company explore deeper into the Biodiversity concept, that is why, in the past few years, there have been intercalated rows of ancient fruits trees. For example, in the olive groves on can find forgotten fruits trees planted in between the rows. Nowadays, we are cultivating more than 20 different varieties of apple, 25 of ancient pears, prickly pears, cherries, khakis, sour cherries, medlars, jujubes and other varieties.
Animals
All the animals at Pratello are bred outdoor and feed from lawn grass, mixed with cereals produced by the company. Lastly, there has always been a curious animal breeding at pratello: the Alpaca's. These animals find their ideal habitat in wooded areas and in the middle of olive groves. Extremely calm and respectful, the Alpaca lives in the fields and feed off of weeds. The Alpaca are known especially for their soft wool which can be treated and used to create worm clothing, rigorously hand made.